Post-hole auger.



L. E. BIRKLAND.

- POSTHOLE AUGER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. 1915.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

g z I awvwm I j irZan/d i THE COLUMBIA PunjooRAPH cO-. WAsH LAWRENCE E.BIRKLAND, or GRAETTINGEB, Iowa. a

POST-HOLE Ariana Specification of Letters Patjent.:

'7 Pate ted Feb. ,8, 1916.

Application filed July 26,1915. Seria1No.42 ,002

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE. 'BIRK- LAND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Graettinger, in the county of'Palo Alto and State ofIowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Post- HoleAngers; and-I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it 'appertains to make and use the same: V

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in post holeangers and more particularly to that class of post hole angers whereinthe blade carrying portion or body is constructed of two parts, andthe-primary object of the invention is to provide-a device of thischaracter in which one of the parts'is movable outward, whereby'the dirtmay be easily and quickly removed from the auger after the same hasbeenwithdrawn from the ground.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which 'is simple and durable in construction, inexpensive tomanufacture, and one which will be very eflicient in operation.

With these and numerous other'objects in View, my 1nvent1on conslsts11113116 certain novel features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts which will be hereinafter referred to and moreparticularly pointed out inthe specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a 'side elevationz'of my"improved post hole auger showing one of theparts partly 'in section;Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectiontak'en on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and Fig.3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3-3ofFig.1. 1

In describing my invention, I shallrefer to the accompanying drawings inwhich similar reference characters designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views and in which the numeral 1 designates thehandle or pole, to which is secured at its upper end a transverselyextending operating handle 2. To the lower 'end'ofthe handle 1 issecured as shown at 3, a T- shaped cross head lto which is adapted to besecuredthe dirt dra an lifting pertion of the auger. To one end of thecross head 4- of this device, which is designated by the numeral 5,-is,fixedly secured a blade 6 by means of securing-1 strips on the innerdesignated by the numeral 7' and secure the two above mentioned partstogether by any desired fastening means forinstance as shown at 8. Thelower end of this'fixed blade '6 'hasa laterally 'curved auger bit 9nary type 'usedin post hole angers-of this character; -The other endofthe cross head & is bifurcat'ed as shown at 10, and has secured orfulcrumed between said bifurcated.

and outer surfaces of'the same which are formed thereon, which may be;of the ordiportions' ashank ll towhich is connected 1 at its lower end,a' blade 12. This blade 12 1 is securely fastened tothe lower end of theshank-11 by fastening means 13 which are clearly" shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawing.

Thelower end of the blade 12 has formed thereon a. correspondinglaterally curved auger bit 14: which is adapted to cooperate with theauger bit of the opposite blade 6 to operate this device. The inwardmovement of the movable blade 13 islimited 1 by-the lower end of thesloping portion 15 which "is "formed between the bifurcated p'ortions ofthe end 10 of the cross head 4:.

Disposed adjacent the handle 1, is a lever 17 ,having formedthereinintermediate of its ends, a longitudinally extending arcuate'slot 16; This slot-16 has its upper end portion which is designated bythe numeral 21 extendingstraight', or, transversely across thesaid-lever for a short distance, so that I the inner shoulder which isdesignated by thenumeral 22 of the said slot will form a lock or stop aswill be hereinafter more fully described: This lever 17 is adapted to bepivotally and slidably mounted with respect to the handle 1 of the augerby means of a laterally projecting pin or bolt 18, having an enlargedhead on its outer end, and which is adapted to project through the slotto hold the lever with respect to the handle. The lower end of the lever17 is curved as shown at 19 and is fulcrumed at its outer extremity totheupper extremity of the shank 11 at 20. The upper end of thereon.

or bored into the earth, the said end of the lever will be positioned infrom the hole formed thereby, so that it will not strike the earth atany point.

When the parts of this device are assembled as shown at Fig. 1 of thedrawings,

it will be noted that the blades 6 and 12 are disposed in substantiallyparallel relation with respect to each other, so that upon insertion andcontact with the ground, and upon rotation of the handle 1, the saidblades'will bore into the ground and gather a certain amount of earth inthe space therebetween. During this operation, the movable blade 12 willbe held firmly and securely in position, and immovable, owing to thefact that the pin or bolt 18 which connects the operating lever 17 tothe handle 1 is positioned in the straight portion 21 of the slot 16 insaid lever, and consequently the lever 17 will not be able to movelongitudinally, which is the only movement which will be impartedthereto through the blade 12. This straight portion 21 and shoulder 22of the slot 16 prevent any movement ofthe lever 17 except transverselythereacross when the pin or bolt 18 is positioned therein; hence whenthe movable blade 12 is in operative position as shown in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, the same will be firmly and securely held therein, and wouldbe only released therefrom by a transverse movement of the grippinglever.

When it is desired to remove the earth which is choked or packed betweenthe said blades, after the auger has been operated, the auger is removedfrom the ground, and the lever 17 is grasped at its outer end 23 andmoved transversely across and then upwardly, according to the directionallowed by the coaction between the pin 18 and the slot 16. Thisoperation will shift the lever upwardly owing to the said connectionwith the handle 1, and likewise bring the lower end of the sameinwardly, and as the said lower end is fulcrumed to the upper extremityof the shank 11 of the blade 12,

the said blade will be moved outwardly from its normal position parallelwith the blade 6. This is due to the cooperative action because of thefulcrum 11, on the end 10 of the cross head 4, and the shank 11.

When the movable blade 12 is in the aforesaid position, which is clearlyillustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will beobvious that the dirt will be released from between the blades so thatwhen the lever is swung back to its original position, the blades willconsequently assume their normal parallel position, and the auger will.be again ready for use.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improveddevice, the manner of applying the same to use, and the operationthereof will be readily understood, and it will be seen that I haveprovided a simple, inexpensive and efficient means for carrying out theobjects of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a post hole auger, the combination of a handle, a relatively fixedblade carried by the lower end of said-handle and having a laterallycurved auger bit thereon, a relatively movable blade having a shankfulcrumed on said handle and a laterally curved bit adapted for coactionwith the auger on the fixed blade, a lever fulcrumed to the shank ofsaid movable blade, and said lever pivotally and slidably movable on thehandle.

2. In a post hole auger, the combination of a handle having a cross headat its lower end, a blade fixedly secured at its upper end to one end ofsaid cross head and having a laterally curved bit on its lower end, anadditional blade having an upwardly projecting shank at its upper endfulcrumed to the opposite end of said cross head, a laterally curved biton the lower end of said blade, a lever having a curved lower endfulcrumed to the upper extremity of said shank, said lever having alongitudinally extending arcuate slot therein intermediate its'ends, anda laterally projecting pin on the said handle projecting through saidslot and slidable therein.

3. In a post hole auger, the combination of a handle, a relatively fixedblade carried by the lower end of saidhandle and having a laterallycurved auger bit thereon, a rela tively movable blade having a shankfulcrumed on said handle and a laterally curved bit adapted for coactionwith the auger on the fixed blade, a lever pivotally and slidablymovable on the handle fulcrumed to the shank of said movable blade, andcoaoting means at said connection between the lever and handle to lockthe movable blade when in operative position.

4. In a post hole auger, the combination with a handle having a crosshead at its lower end, a blade fixedly secured at its upper end to oneend of said cross head and having a laterally curved bit on its lowerend, an additional blade having an upwardly projecting shank at itsupper end fulcrumed to the opposite end of said cross head, a laterallycurved bit on the lower end of said blade, a laterally projecting pin inin a longitudinally extending arcuate slot In testimony whereof I havehereunto set 1 adapted to engage said pin, the upper end my hand inpresence of two subscribing 10 portipn (if saifi slot inbvfhifilln (thepin is dis- Witnesses.

pose went'emovae aeisinoerative position being straight to prevent tinyW EE' BIRKLAND' longitudinal movement of the lever when Witnesses;

the pin is in said position and to lock the SAM FISTER,

movable blade thereby. CON SKoW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eaeh, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington. D. G. 1

